Dominic Thompson

Dominic Thompson
Shortland Street character
Portrayed by	Shane Cortese
Introduced by	Harriet Crampton
Duration	2003 - 2004
First appearance	21 February 2003 episode 2660
Last appearance	2 December 2004 episode 3124[1]
Classification	Past; Regular Antagonist
Profile
Date of death	1 December 2004
Family Wife Emily Bredican (2003-2004) Mother Ngaire Thompson Sisters Toni Warner Nephews Harry Warner James Warner Romances Delphi Greenlaw (2003-2004) Lucy Swinton (2004)

Dominic "Dom" Thompson is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. He was portrayed by Shane Cortese and since the characters death, Dom has picked up an icon status for his explosive storylines.^[2]

The character was the malicious and psychopathic brother of Toni Thompson, who murdered two people, drugged his new wife, dated a barley legal teenager^[3] and attempted to kill long running character Chris Warner, all under his two years on the show.

Creation and Casting

After auditioning for Geoff Greenlaw and losing out to Andrew Laing, Shane Cortese learned producers had created a character specifically for him to be the brother of a major character and it was undecided whether the character would be "good or bad".^[4]

Storylines

2003-2004

Dom arrives as Toni's younger brother in 2003 and instantly does not get on with Chris. When Chris' mother dies, it is revealed Dom is Chris' half brother. The two start to get on well, but when Dom has surgery he discovers his blood type is different and that he is in no way related to Chris. Preferring to seek the benefits of the Warner money, he does not tell Chris. School girl, Delphi starts to come on to Dom, but he ignores her, putting his friendship with her brother Geoff first. Dom gets married to manipulator, Emily but he soon learns Emily only married him for his money and he starts to drug Emily so he can sleep with the barely legal Delphi.

Geoff learns of the drugging and a desperate Dom, murders Geoff and hides his body in the pub freezer.^[5] When Chris learns Dom wasn't really his brother, he started to ignore him. An annoyed Dom convinced school girl Tash to tell her councilor that Chris was sexually abusing her. Marshall realized Dom was the killer and warned Delphi who planned to run away with Dom.

In 2004 Dom fled town, leaving Delphi to wonder if he had, in fact, murdered her brother. Mid way through the year Chris was shocked to find Dom had returned and started a relationship with Lucy, who had employed Dom to run a high profile surgical unit. Dom managed to convince the hospital employees he had not murdered Geoff and Victor was arrested. Avril confronted Dom with new evidence and a frustrated Dom drowned her in his bath. With his mental state crumbling, Toni had Dom sectioned, where Dom swore he would deal with his arch nemesis Chris. In late 2004, Dom escaped and took Toni and nephew Harry hostage, to lure Chris to a barn. Stringing Chris up, he attempted to set him alight, but having failed, he set alight to the barn causing it to explode. A severely burnt Dom admitted to Toni that he had killed Avril and Geoff, shortly before he finally dies.

References

1. ^ "15 years of Shortland Street DVD volumes 1, 2 and 3". May 2007. http://www.shopenzed.com/15-years-of-shortland-street-dvd-volumes-1-2-and-3-xidp150800.html. Retrieved June 2011. 
2. ^ "Shane Cortese plays Mac". TVNZ. unspecified. http://tvnz.co.nz/nothing-trivial/shane-cortese-plays-mac-4248666. Retrieved June 2011. 
3. ^ "You Go Girl!". TVNZ. February 2009. http://tvnz.co.nz/content/2490500. Retrieved June 2011. 
4. ^ NZonscreen | Shane Cortese on being a badguy | March 2011
5. ^ "Who killed Geoff Greenlaw?". TVNZ. January 2004. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/tv2_minisite_story_skin/429383?format=html. Retrieved June 2011.